Korean electronics giant Samsung just enjoyed a surge in profits with its best first quarter since 2018, largely thanks to its booming smartphone business. The company’s success in the mobile and smart TV industries has yet to fully extend to consumer laptops, but Samsung is aiming to change that with a new line of Galaxy Books. The new laptops include the Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360, and Galaxy Book Odyssey, and all run on Windows 10 with an Intel processor.
Sticking with the popular Galaxy name is not only good for brand recognition, it also speaks to the firm’s ambition to build a mobile-centric ecosystem. Samsung wants laptop buyers to see these new devices as equally responsive, fast, and powerful as its Galaxy smartphone lineup. Long-lasting battery life (21 hours) and deep integration with smartphone features, allowing users to sync their phones with Galaxy Books, is something Samsung hopes will resonate with its existing smartphone users and new customers.
Galaxy Book Pro starts at $999, and Galaxy Book Pro 360 starts at $1,199 – both begin shipping on May 14th. These are not inexpensive laptops, but they come with premium features such as AMOLED screens, and in the case of the Pro 360, the ability to convert into a tablet and use Samsung’s S-Pen. Samsung has its work cut out for itself to catch laptop leaders like HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Apple, but if it can leverage its massive smartphone userbase, it could see some momentum. According to Interpret’s New Media Measure®, Samsung’s smartphone owners in the US are equally likely to buy a laptop in the next six months as they are a new smart TV. If those consumers remain loyal to the Samsung brand, that’ll be good news for the firm.
